Recently in XM Canada Category

XM Canada has just launched its XM online+ App in the Apple App Store - so now XM Canada subscribers who are iPhone and iTouch users need not feel left out. The app release comes only a few weeks after Sirius Canada launched its own iPhone App.

Canadian Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. left the door open for a merger between its XM Canada operation and Sirius Canada yesterday at its investor meeting, but there was no clear signal that one is in the works.

"Are there synergies? Sure there are synergies," said CEO Michael Moskowitz after the meeting.

While the U.S. versions of Sirius and XM are happily skipping along holding hands, our neighbors up North may not be sharing the same sentiment.

Following the Justice Department's greenlight of the Sirius-XM merger, XM Canada announced that they'll have no part of such shenanigans - at this time.

"We have a strong business model in Canada and are committed to an aggressive growth strategy aimed at increasing our subscriber base and
delivering outstanding programming right across the country," said Michael Moskowitz, the newly minted President and CEO of XM Canada.

"We are excited about XM Canada's prospects as 60 per cent of all new vehicles made by Canada's automotive
manufacturers are equipped with XM satellite radios, we now have exclusive NHL satellite radio broadcast rights and we now have 400,000 subscribers," added Moskowitz. "We will diligently review any opportunity that arises from this decision and evaluate the impact on our economic positioning and the benefit derived for our customers and shareholders."

So while some analysts opine on the prospects of a reverse takeover - where XM Canada would issue shares to buy Sirius Canada - this statement by Moskowitz clearly indicates that's not in the cards. Yet.

XM Canada is adding a new comedy showcase program, entitled Comic Stripped, to the lineup of Laugh Attack.

Comic Stripped, will also air in the U.S., is a dedicated half-hour of interview peppered with excerpts of each comic's best work.

"Having my comedy played on XM's Laugh Attack channel creates fans in places where they would otherwise have never heard of me, particularly in the U.S.," said Canadian comedian Glen "That Canadian Guy" Foster. "Shows like Comic Stripped provide a glimpse of the person behind the 'funny' and offers an opportunity to engage comedy fans in a way that goes beyond simply playing clips from my show."

Comic Stripped will air live every Friday at 8am ET on Laugh Attack (ch 153) with encores every Saturday at 3am/pm ET, Monday at 10am/pm ET and Wednesday at 5am/pm ET.

XM Canada is likely to outpace the subscriber growth of XM in the U.S., the company said yesterday.

"We believe the Canadian market will surpass the growth predicted for the U.S., given the U.S. is in its sixth year of business and we're still in our early stages of growth cycle here in Canada," Michael Moskowitz, the company's new president and CEO.

XM Canada reached 350,000 subscribers as of the end of their first quarter (ending Nov. 30th), a growth rate of 86% over the same period the prior year.

Moskowitz said XM Canada has benefited from the promotional campaigns and product penetration in the United States. The awareness helped prepare Canadians for the rollout of the service.

"We're really at the infancy stage here," Moskowitz said. "We still have a low percentage of cars that come with XM, so I think there's tremendous opportunity."

"The best years are to come because we're at an earlier stage in the whole development of satellite radio in Canada," he added in an interview after the meeting.

As for the merger, Moskowitz said it's still business as usual up north. "Even if there was a merger it would take several months - upwards to a year - because there's (Canadian) government regulations that would have to come into play as well," he said.

XM Canada has appointed Janet Gillespie as their new Vice President of Marketing. In addition, Donald McKenzie will leave as XM Canada's Senior VP of Sales & Marketing today.

Janet comes from Palm Canada Inc. where she started off as the Director of Marketing roughly eight years ago.

She led the marketing efforts for Palm handheld computers and smartphones, including the successful positioning and launch of the Treo smartphone product family. Most recently, Gillespie was responsible for wireless carrier business development where she held overall sales and account management responsibility for Treo smartphones to Canada's leading wireless carriers, including Bell Mobility, Rogers Wireless and Telus Mobility.

In total, Gillespie has more than 20 years of experience in marketing and sales from a variety of leading technology and communications firms.

XM Canada has just announced that they've hit the 350,000 subscriber mark as of November 30th, 2007 (the end of their first quarter). That's a growth rate of 86% over the same period last year.

In order to align the definition of exactly what a subscriber is "more closely with industry norms," XM Canada's subscriber numbers now include rental cars installed with XM Canada's service for which they receive compensation.

When you remove rental cars, XM's subscriber base was 338,000 this quarter and 306,300 at the end of the fourth quarter of 2007. Still not bad, especially since almost all the growth is in self-paying subs.

Toronto based, Pop Up Retail Group, announced today that they successfully launched XM Canada kiosks in mall locations across three markets, and had them selling radios in less than 90 days.

The exact number of kiosks was not disclosed, but the timeline was supposedly aggressive enough to put Pop Up Retail Group's turn key approach to the test.

"Kiosks give us incremental sales, a great brand presence and further support to our existing subscribers," said Donald McKenzie, Senior VP of Sales and Marketing at XM Canada. "We are not interested in shifting volume from our valued retail partners. We expect their sales to increase as well in the markets where we have a corporate presence."

I suppose that kiosks must actually work for satellite radio, since they've been using them for so long. But my own anecdotal (and granted, limited) experience is that they're fairly low-traffic and low-key. I love the concept of a focused, branded retail environment - but just think it could be more immersive than just slapping some logos and letting people play with a radio. Even just to include one of those funky car displays (pictured) that are seen in tradeshows - or a variation of them - would be nice to see. The goal not necessarily being on creating a point of sale, but rather a place for people to experience the service.

There's a bit of a shakeup up-north. Michael Moskowitz is being appointed as XM Canada's new CEO and President, effective January 1, 2008.

Chairman (and former CEO) John Bitove will continue his leadership role, but under the new title of Executive Chairman of Canadian Satellite Radio Holdings Inc.

“After an extensive search, we felt Michael was the best fit due to his outstanding leadership in the Canadian communications technology industry. He has a strong background in management, particularly operations, marketing, sales, distribution and finance. Michael is perfect for XM Canada today,” said Bitove in a statement.

Michael Moskowitz is former President, Americas International of Palm, Inc., which encompasses Canada, Latin America and the Caribbean. Prior to Palm, he worked at several leading global consumer electronics product companies. Michael was a Top 40 Under 40 award recipient in 2004 and holds an honours degree from York University and an MBA from Dalhousie University.

Donald McKenzie, who was serving as acting President and COO since June, will return to his position as XM Canada's Senior Vice President of Sales & Marketing.